When Zhané Rambaran shared the advice she would give to fellow civil servants, ‘your attitude determines your altitude’, she had no idea that her attitude would be one of the main factors in her selection as the Cayman Islands Government Employee of the Year for 2023 on Thursday, 25 April.

In front of Her Excellency the Governor Jane Owen, Minister of Home Affairs, Health and Wellness Hon. Sabrina Turner, other officials, colleagues, family and friends, the Financial Administrator in the Portfolio of the Civil Service received the top Civil Service accolade from Deputy Governor Hon. Franz Manderson.

The awards ceremony was the culmination of the 2023 round of the Deputy Governor’s Award Programme. The initiative, created by the DG in 2012, seeks to identify and recognise civil servants whose behaviours exemplify the Civil Service’s values of passion, integrity and professionalism and whose performance demonstrates accountability in delivering against the Government’s Broad Outcomes, to both external and internal customers.

Ms Rambaran won the top award out of a field of 12 finalists. These civil servants were initially nominated by a colleague, endorsed by their Chief Officer and ultimately selected as Employee of the Month by the Deputy Governor. All finalists, as well as Chief Officer’s Choice Award recipients, were recognised at the ceremony.

The gala event was held at the Kimpton Seafire Grand Cayman, where attendees heard of the work, attributes and impact of each nominee.

Ms Rambaran was recognised for exemplary contributions to the strategic goal, Deliver Exceptional Customer Service. At the time Ms Rambaran was selected as Employee of the Month for April 2023, Portfolio of the Civil Service Chief Officer Gloria McField-Nixon highlighted her positive impact, describing her as “someone who makes all of our lives better. Her attention to detail, personalised customer service, and infectious smile have earned her a well-deserved reputation as a shining star within the team.” Mrs McField-Nixon also emphasised Ms Rambaran’s crucial role in ensuring timely payments to vendors, upholding government policies and procedures, and ultimately supporting the public, economy, community, and families.

In announcing the DG’s selection of Ms Rambaran as the 2023 Employee of the Year, Mrs McField-Nixon said the DG had recognised the recipient “as someone who, in their civil service career, was growing from strength to strength, who brings the zeal and who reflects and exemplifies that the right attitude can determine the altitude.”

In her acceptance, the new CIG Employee of the Year shared her passion: “Fellow nominees, you have much to be proud of. I ask that you continue to serve our country in the manner that earned you a place in this ceremony tonight.

“As you know, we are not serving a niche market or one particular group of people. Rather, we are serving every person who calls these beloved Islands home.” She added, “This is no light work but it is work that fills me and my colleagues with an immense sense of pride.”

The Deputy Governor, in his opening remarks at the event, shared the difficulty he had in selecting a winner. “I can say without reservation that all 12 nominees are world-class civil servants. I am happy to see that they have come from a cross-section of the Civil Service. They live our values.” He continued, “It demonstrates to me that our vision of being a world-class Civil Service is the correct one. It is because of our civil servants, who work hard every day; I have seen it.”

The other 2023 Employee of the Year nominees were:

• Beckie Seymour, Executive Officer, Department of Children & Family Services
• George Hurlston, Solid Waste Collection Driver, Department of Environmental Health (Sister Islands)
• Tanisha James, Assistant HR & Development Manager/ Acting Senior Manager, Public Works Department
• Prisca Smith, Administrative Assistant, Office of the Deputy Governor
• Anita Veitch-Lee, Administrator, Department of Workforce Opportunities & Residency Cayman (WORC)
• Audrey Hill, Administrator, WORC
• Kiria Bodden, Financial Administrator, Ministry of Border Control and Labour
• Kim Chin, Legal Executive Officer, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
• Jeremy Olynik, Senior Geographical Information Systems Officer, Department of Environment
• Heather Jackson, Library Officer, Public Library Service
• David Dixon, Director, Department of Vehicle & Drivers’ Licensing;

Moments of Magic

In addition to the individual awards, the Deputy Governor’s Employee of the Year event was the occasion for the following three teams to be presented with ‘Moments of Magic’ awards for outstanding work:

• The e-Government Department, for development and implementation of the e-Gov portal.
• The Steps team in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, for the development and implementation of the STEPS research project to gather information regarding non-communicable diseases in the Cayman Islands.
• WORC, for a collection of improvements that include reducing the processing time for various types of permanent residency applications by 70%, from three years to 11 months.

Deputy Governor Franz Manderson presenting Zhané Rambaran with the Employee of the Year certificate. 

Deputy Governor Franz Manderson and HE Governor Jane Owen (centre) with civil servants honoured as Employee of the Month from January to December 2023.

Deputy Governor Franz Manderson (3rd from right) after presenting a Moment of Magic Award to representatives from the Department of E-Government, supported by their Deputy Chief Officer Charles Brown, Ministry of Investment, Innovation and Social Development ((far left).